Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

Russia Calls for Broader Eurasia Partnership to Break Isolation

Russia Calls for Broader Eurasia Partnership to Break Isolation

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia - The three-day annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum ended here Saturday, during which Russian President Vladimir Putin called for the establishment of a broader Eurasia partnership.
The partnership will group India, China, and countries of the Eurasian Economic Union and the Commonwealth of Independent states of the former Soviet Union, as well as other interested states and organizations, according to the Russian president.
The move is viewed as an endeavor to break up the isolation resulting from sanctions imposed on Russia by the U.S.-led Western countries in the wake of the Ukraine crisis, and to enhance multilateral cooperation, especially with the European Union (EU).
FUTILE SANCTIONS
Compared with the first quarter in 2015, a remarkably lower amount of foreign investment is leaving Russia recently, Putin said at a plenary session of the forum on Friday. Moreover, Russia has abundant reserve funds, and could cut the recent inflation rate to 4 or 5 percent, which all predict Russia would regain a positive economic growth rate in a short term.
Relations between Russia and the EU soured after the latter joined the United States in imposing several rounds of sanctions on Russia over its takeover of Crimea and involvement in the Ukraine crisis since 2014.
The sanctions on Russia did bring about considerable difficulties for the country's economic growth, but they did't succeed in dragging it into collapse.
MUTUAL BENEFITS
"We bear no grudge, and we are ready to meet our European partners halfway," Putin said at a plenary session of the forum on Friday.
Analysts say that Moscow has sent a clear message to the EU to put aside their differences and join hands in strengthening multilateral cooperation.
Russia is the EU's third-largest trading partner, while the EU is Russia's largest trading partner. Due to the mutual sanctions imposed on each other between Russia and the EU, their trade volume has witnessed a sharp drop of 37 percent in the past two years.
The EU countries are not unanimous on the sanction issue. Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy said at the forum that the relationship between the EU and Russia should not be manoeuvred by the United States, while the sanctions between Russia and the EU should be removed.
In fact, many European companies whose business has been hampered because of the sanctions are anxious to normalize their economic and trade ties with Moscow, which the latter also echoed.
Putin noted in his speech that profound changes have taken place in the means of global economic development, as a fast-developing high-tech innovation is injecting new blood into the the global economic growth, which renders isolation and blockade inadvisable. Instead, he suggests that the relevant sides step up cooperation within a flexible integrated framework. (Xinhua)